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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204719">Falling for you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupe/pseuds/Jupe'>Jupe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Fluff, Hugs, M/M, Modern AU, and sylvain a little too anxious, but they're idiots in love, felix is a little too soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:00:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,573</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupe/pseuds/Jupe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sylvain takes Felix on a date to the ice rink, but maybe the idea wasn't as great as he first anticipated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Falling for you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sylvain is tapping on the steering wheel in a rhythm that doesn’t fully match the christmas songs playing quietly from the radio. He’s not quite sure if he’s tapping because he’s happy, or nervous, or both. Although, if he had to guess, he’d probably say it’s both.</p><p>He catches a glance at Felix sitting in the passenger seat, buried in his winter jacket and his scarf pulled almost all the way up to his nose, because Sylvain’s car is slow to heat up, and Felix is quick to get cold. He’s clearly trying to mask it, but Sylvain can tell that Felix is almost bursting with excitement. It’s a rare state for Felix to be in, so Sylvain can’t help but feel a little proud of himself for having come up with a date idea that gets Felix like this. Going to the ice rink has probably been his greatest, and at the same time dumbest idea ever.</p><p>It’s great because of how Felix reacted to it. After Felix mentioned to him how he’s loved ice skating ever since he was a kid, Sylvain almost immediately tried to figure out if there were any ice rinks nearby —  and, luckily, he found one not too far away from them. When he proposed the idea to Felix, he looked like he was about to kiss Sylvain right then and there. He opted for a quick hug instead, but that was already more than enough for Sylvain, who is more than happy to receive just about any kind of affection from Felix.</p><p>The reason for why the idea also has potential to be one of Sylvain’s dumbest is the following: Sylvain doesn’t actually know how to ice skate. In fact, he’s never done it in his life. In theory, this shouldn’t be too big of a problem, however, so far he always nodded along when Felix talked about ice skating, and overall tried to appear like he definitely knew what Felix was talking about, rather than like he had no clue about what Felix was telling him. The reasons for this are now beyond him, although, if he had to guess, he’d probably blame it on his weird need to impress Felix in any way possible. It’s silly, really, and Sylvain has never acted like this with anyone else he’s dated before, but with Felix, things have just been different. He’d never dare to say it out loud —  mainly because Felix would slap him for being sappy —  but he definitely feels like there’s some kind of connection between them. It’s not like Sylvain hasn’t been in love before —  He’s just never fallen this fast, not to mention this hard for someone.</p><p>So, now he’s nervous, because he’s not sure how to break it to Felix that he has actually no idea what he’s doing, especially without having to explain that the only reason he didn’t mention it sooner is because he was just <em>that</em> eager to impress Felix. Over the last few days, his brain has played through every scenario, ranging from Felix just laughing at him and calling him silly to him getting seriously mad at Sylvain for lying.</p><p>He’s been spiralling with dread for a while now, and it’s just getting worse the closer they’re getting to their destination now.</p><p>The ice rink is located in a huge building that looks strangely intimidating to Sylvain, effectively making him feel even more anxious than before. Once he finds a good parking spot and turns off his car, he just sits there for a moment, staring at it, while his heart is hammering in his chest. Felix doesn’t even notice and instead jumps out of the car right away. He walks a few steps, before he seems to finally realize that Sylvain isn’t with him, so he turns around with an impatient look, arms crossed and tapping the ground with one foot. It’s actually kind of cute.</p><p>Sylvain now smirks as he gets out of the car, knowing exactly that Felix would kill him if he said it out loud. “Why are you smirking?, Felix asks with a suspicious look once Sylvain finally catches up to him.</p><p>Sylvain chuckles in return. “I don’t think you want to know,” he replies. When he just gets a raised eyebrow in return, he decides to add some clarification. “You’d only slap me for being cheesy, so I’m saving us both from that.” Felix then rolls his eyes in what appears to be playfulness —  or at least as close as Felix can get to that —  and marches on towards the building without another word.</p><p>They enter the hall. Somehow, it appears even bigger from the inside. There’s a long, narrow hallway with a register for them to check in. They definitely tried to make it look welcoming, placing a few chairs and a small table with a bunch of magazines about winter sports and nearby tourist attractions, as well as a lonely plant next to the entrance, however, Sylvain can only focus on the ever growing tightness in his chest. Felix doesn’t even seem to notice, too focused on leading Sylvain further down the hall (and further towards the moment Sylvain dreads the most). They get to a small locker room to store their belongings and take off their shoes, and then, an employee hands them each a pair of ice skates. All the while Sylvain can already hear dozens of voices of the people inside, all seeming to speak over each other. Right. He completely forgot that there would be others as well. That means he can embarrass himself even more than anticipated. For a moment he considers just turning around and leaving, but thankfully the last bit of reason left in his brain stops him, yelling at him that it would only make things worse if he left now without an explanation. After they put on their skates, they can finally (finally?) get to the ice rink. Even walking on regular ground is way harder with ice skates, but Felix looks like he hardly even noticed any change. Meanwhile Sylvain is trying hard not to break his ankles by accidentally taking a wrong step.</p><p>Once they get on the ice, it’s even worse —  as if that was even possible. Sylvain is grateful for the wall surrounding the rink, since it gives him at least some kind of support so he doesn’t fall immediately. He takes a couple of wobbly steps, gripping onto the wall like his life depends on it, while putting all of his focus into not slipping. It takes him a few minutes before he remembers that he’s not here on his own.</p><p>When he looks up, Felix is standing there, a little further on the ice, staring at him with his head slightly tilted. “Are you okay?”</p><p>Sylvain nods weakly . “Yeah, I’m fine, I just… need a moment.” The end of his sentence sounds more like a question than anything else. A weak offering of an excuse that Felix will see right through.</p><p>It turns out that he’s right, because Felix raises an eyebrow and gives him the most doubtful look Sylvain has ever received. And that includes the looks he gets from Ingrid whenever he tells her that he spent a night at home studying, rather than going out and meeting people.</p><p>“You sure?”, Felix asks again, and before Sylvain can try to give him another excuse, he adds “You know that you can just tell me if you don’t know how to ice skate, right?”</p><p>Sylvain wants to object. He really does. But Felix’s eyes pierce right through him, sharp as ever, and Sylvain knows there’s no way to lie to him. He sighs deeply and looks down to his hands that are still firmly gripping onto the wall. “Fine. I have absolutely no clue how this works. Never done it in my entire life.”</p><p>Felix nods. “Yeah, I thought so. Why didn’t you just tell me sooner?” Sylvain knew that the question was going to come next, but somehow he still feels caught off guard. He tries to decipher what the tone in Felix’s voice means. Is he annoyed? Angry? Disappointed? For him it sounds all the same at this moment. The only thing he can do now is try to properly explain himself and hope that Felix won’t just leave him standing right there.</p><p>Sylvain shrugs. “I don’t know.  I just”, he pauses for a moment, searching for the right words. Didn’t want to disappoint Felix? Wanted to impress him? Eventually he just gives up. “I don’t know. Sorry.” He bites his lip, not daring to look up at Felix to watch his reaction.</p><p>When he doesn’t hear anything, Sylvain carefully lifts his eyes, almost expecting Felix to just be gone, only to see him look at him with raised eyebrows. “So, did you think you could just… Wing it?”, he asks, sounding sceptical.</p><p>Sylvain shrugs once again. “I guess it was kind of dumb of me. I just thought you’d enjoy going here, and didn’t even think much further than that”, he admits.</p><p>Felix now laughs —  just full on laughs —  and shakes his head a little. “Yeah, it was,” he agrees.</p><p>“Are you mad at me?” Sylvain eventually asks, careful, as if Felix is going to bite his head off as an answer.</p><p>“Not really,” Felix reassures him, “I just think it’s… silly that you wouldn’t just tell me.”</p><p>Sylvain bites his lip. “I know, I’m really sorry. If you want to leave, that’s okay with-§ Felix quickly cuts him off.</p><p>“It’s fine. You were just trying to make me happy, weren’t you?” Sylvain nods, prompting Felix to continue. “See? I’m not going to get mad at you for that. You meant well.” Sylvain breathes a sigh of relief, realizing that he was making himself anxious over nothing. “But”, Felix adds after a short pause, causing Sylvain to flinch a little, “Please don’t do it again. You can be honest with me, okay? I prefer it if people tell me the truth rather than playing stupid games.”</p><p>Sylvain quickly nods. “Yeah, I promise I will honest be next time. I’m sorry, really.”</p><p>“Well then”, Felix sighs before giving Sylvain a small smile, extending a hand towards him, “You can’t just stand here and be miserable for the rest of the date. Let me teach you!”</p><p>Sylvain wants nothing more than that, but even the idea of letting go of the wall sounds absolutely dreadful to him, so he just stands there, still gripping the wall, staring at Felix’s hand. “It’s okay”, Felix eventually encourages him, “Just trust me, okay?”</p><p>And somehow, that’s all Sylvain needs, because trusting Felix feels right, and it feels good, and it suddenly seems so much easier than to just keep holding onto the wall. Very slowly he lifts his right hand and grabs Felix, who is muttering something that’s probably meant to be encouraging, but is too quiet for Sylvain to understand. He doesn’t even need to understand them, because just the feeling of Felix’s hand in his is enough for Sylvain to simultaneously feel way calmer and freak out completely.</p><p>They’ve held hands before, on their last date, after Sylvain had somehow built up the courage to take Felix’s hand after an hour-long walk which he’d spent debating with himself whether it would be a good idea to hold hands or if it would only weird Felix out —  so this right now really shouldn’t be a big deal for him. But it is. Sylvain, who’s been to countless dates and usually didn’t even waste time on hand holding before jumping to kisses and the like, is freaking out over touching Felix’s hand through two layers of glove fabric.</p><p>He snaps out of his minor breakdown when he realizes that Felix keeps switching between staring at his face and the hand that’s still gripping the wall. “Just try to let go of it completely. I’ve got you”, he says, trying to give Sylvain an encouraging smile.</p><p>Sylvain nods and carefully takes the other hand off too, now standing freely with only Felix as support. He makes an attempt at taking a couple of experimental steps towards Felix, however, this proves to be fatal, because he loses his balance almost immediately, before Felix even gets the chance to call out to him to be careful. He falls right down, almost dragging Felix with him in the process, who just tightens his grip on Sylvain’s hand, like that will stop him from falling.</p><p>“Are you okay?”, Felix asks after just blinking at Sylvain lying on the ice in front of him. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”</p><p>Sylvain quickly waves him off. “No, no, I’m fine! Just a little surprised”, he assures Felix, who looks relieved upon hearing that Sylvain is okay.</p><p>Together they somehow manage to get Sylvain up on his feet again. “Maybe you should hold both of my hands for now. Just to give you some extra support until you’ve gotten used to this, you know”, Felix suggests. His face is turned slightly away from Sylvain, but it seems as if there’s a slight pink blush spreading across his cheeks —  Although that’s probably just the cold, right?</p><p>Nevertheless, Sylvain’s heart hammers in his chest even harder than before as he now reaches for Felix’s other hand, too. It actually does help him stand a bit steadier, although, when he tries to move this time, he almost slips again, managing at the last second to cling onto Felix for support. “Careful”, he warns Sylvain, a somewhat nervous edge to his voice, “Try to take it slow. We have more than enough time, it’s better to learn it step by step than to have you fall over and over again.”</p><p>So, they do take it slow, spending the next few hours getting Sylvain used to standing on the ice and the way he has to keep his balance. By the end of it, Sylvain feels a lot more secure and actually enjoys himself —  although that’s likely thanks to Felix to a larger part.</p><p>Felix now looks at him with a wide smile. “Think you can do it without holding my hand by now?”, he suggests. Sylvain would probably be able to stand on his own by now, but he doesn’t really want to, because the way their hands feel, now more casually holding onto each other rather than gripping tightly for support, isn’t something Sylvain is ready to give up now.</p><p>He shakes his head. “I think I’d rather keep holding it. It’s better this way. I…” He pauses for a moment. He’s still incredibly nervous about just admitting it outright, still worried it will make Felix shy away. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I like this.” He gestures towards their hands.</p><p>“Oh.” Felix blinks at him for a few seconds and Sylvain immediately begins panicking that it was too much. That he’s finally stepped over the line he was so careful not to cross. But instead of getting away from him like he’s poisonous - as Sylvain would have expected - Felix nods. “Sure. We can keep doing that then.”</p><p>“Are you sure”, Syvain asks again, “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. It’s okay if you don’t want to-”</p><p>“I said it’s okay”, Felix cuts him off. He’s quiet for a moment, leaving Sylvain wondering if he really managed to piss him off this time. Then, Felix sighs. “Really. I’ll let you know if I want you to stop”, he repeats, this time a bit calmer.</p><p>Felix turns his face to look up at him with a reassuring smile, and somehow they get caught up like this, just looking at each other, both of them smiling in a way that makes Sylvain understand what people mean when they talk about having butterflies in their stomach.</p><p>It’s moments like these where Sylvain wishes he had even half the confidence he has on dates with other people when it comes to Felix, so he wouldn’t have to stand here, wondering if Felix feels like this as well —  rapid heartbeat, a tingling sensation in his skin where him and Felix are touching, or just that feeling of being absolutely lost in the others’ eyes. Maybe if he knew that Felix felt about him the same way, Sylvain could somehow find the courage to act on that underlying urge to just reach out and touch his cheek, or put his arms around him, or show him some other way how he feels about him.</p><p>Instead, all he can do is stand and keep looking at Felix, too scared that if he moved, it would snap them both out of their trance, make them go back to normal and cause them to act like this never happened, when all Sylvain wants is for them to acknowledge that there is something going on, for Felix to confirm that Sylvain isn’t just imagining this.</p><p>However, he isn’t left with much of a choice when Sylvain catches a movement in the corner of his eye, realizing just in time that there’s a group of kids nearby, racing right at them, seemingly too caught up in their game of catch to pay attention to their surroundings. Without thinking he grabs Felix and pulls him out of the way, just in time to avoid a collision with the children.</p><p>He wants to say something along the lines of “That was close, huh?”, or make a joke about the situation, or say just <em>anything</em>, but all the words get stuck in his throat when he realizes just how close they are now. He instinctively pulled Felix right into his arms, so he’s now pressed against Sylvain’s chest, looking up at him with wide eyes, and his face so red that, this time, there is no way to blame it on the cold.</p><p>Something about having Felix right there in his arms causes a short circuit in Sylvain’s brain, causing him to forget all about how nervous he was just seconds ago. “Goodness, how are you so cute?” he breathes out, not even caring that it will probably earn him a smack across the head.</p><p>Felix hesitates for a moment, before he buries his face in Sylvain’s chest and mumbles something sounding like a “Shut up!” that only makes Sylvain want to tell him how adorable he is again, but he stops himself for the sake of not ruining the moment.</p><p>Instead, Sylvain slowly snakes his arms around Felix and pulls him even closer towards him. He makes sure to leave Felix enough time to pull away in case he doesn’t want a hug, but when Felix wraps his arms around him instead, Sylvain allows his head to sink down and rest against Felix’s.</p><p>Sylvain doesn’t know how long they stay like this. It could be only a few seconds, or several minutes, but by the end of it, Felix pulls away just enough to look back up at Sylvain with a deeply pink blush spread across his cheeks and the softest look in his eyes.</p><p>Feeling braver after Felix has reacted so well to the hug, Sylvain doesn’t stop himself as his face inches closer to Felix’s all on its own, moving to close the gap between them. Even now he still fears that Felix is going to push him off and tell him to stop any second, but it seems that he couldn’t have been more wrong about that. Felix moves his lips upwards to meet Sylvain, connecting them for a kiss that leaves Sylvain unable to form a coherent thought. It’s a soft kiss, a little shy and over way too soon, but it’s enough for Sylvain to still feel his lips tingling when Felix pulls away to bury his head in Sylvain’s chest again. All he can do is keep his arms tightly wrapped around Felix while trying to comprehend what just happened.</p><p>When the time comes around for them to leave, their hands stay intertwined even when they’re long off the ice. They step out into the crisp winter air, the sun almost set at this point. Felix uses his free hand to pull his scarf up to his nose. “I’ll have to stay wrapped up in a pile of blankets for days if I ever want to warm up from this”, he whines while scooting closer to Sylvain, who doesn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around Felix’s shoulder.</p><p>“I could offer some cuddles to help you warm up, if you want”, Sylvain casually suggests. It’s too dark to say for sure, but it looks like Felix is blushing again.</p><p>“I might take you up on that offer”, he finally says while waiting for Sylvain to unlock the car. Then, once they’re seated inside, Felix turns to face him. “Thank you. For the date, I mean. I really enjoyed today.” He pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath, before adding “All of it.”</p><p>Sylvain can’t help but grin. “Me too”, he replies, leaning in to press a kiss on Felix’s cheek. Before he can pull away, Felix grabs him to quickly kiss his lips again before pulling away with a soft smile.</p><p>“Now start driving, I’m freezing”, he complains after Sylvain spends a few more seconds just adoringly staring at him.</p><p>This time, Sylvain is sure that he’s tapping along to the music on the radio because he’s happy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to my beta for helping me with this! (You can find him on Twitter @OfBleedingInk, please stop by and leae some love there)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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